MOM, PRESCHOOLERS BRING SMILES TO ALZHEIMER'S CENTER

Pamela Dittmer McKuen. Special to the TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Twice a month Susanne Hardy bundles up her three small children and takes them to a day-care center. There they meet about half a dozen other mothers with tots, and for the next hour, they will play with the center's clients.

The clients, who are adults with Alzheimer's disease or other memory disorders, sit in a semicircle in the comfortably decorated living room of the Alzheimer's Family Care Center. Depending on their abilities and those of the children, they might chat, throw balls, read stories, sing songs or help the young ones decorate cupcakes. Some clients merely watch and smile, and the mothers engage them in conversation.

"They love it when babies come," said Hardy, 36. The children "are literally passed around from person to person."

The program, called Blooming Babies, is a joint effort of the center and a women's group at nearby Queen of All Saints Basilica. The children range in age from a few weeks through 5 years. Hardy, a member of the group, coordinates the parish's efforts. She recruits the mothers, helps plan activities for each session and attends regularly with her children, Kathleen, 5, John, 4, and Joe, 2.

One particularly memorable session was in late October when the mothers dressed their children in costumes and marched them in a small parade for the clients. Kathleen was dressed as a witch, and Joe was decked out as lion. (John was at preschool and didn't attend the center that day.) Some of the clients wore masks they had made at a previous session. Karyn Bowman, one of the center's recreation specialists and the originator of the program, also wore a mask so none of the clients would feel uncomfortable.

"That was fun," Hardy recalled. "You think of Halloween as being for kids, but (the clients) really enjoyed it. Some wore their masks the entire session."

At the end of every session, each child walks or is carried around the room to say goodbye to each participant. Some shake hands. Others hug or kiss or give high-fives.

"It's really a nice way to end," Hardy said.

"After the kids are gone, (the clients) are smiling," Bowman said. "They'll say, `Did you see what this one did or what that one did?' It opens up discussion. They'll talk about their own children or grandchildren or how times have changed."

The program is in its second year. Bowman had seen a similar one work successfully before she joined the center's staff about three years ago, and she decided to try one. She called the church group's president, who liked the idea too.

The call came at a good time, Hardy recalled. "We wanted to do outreach and thought this would be a good way to do it," she said.

The mothers participate for a variety of reasons, Hardy said. Some have had family members with dementia. Others feel they have been rewarded in life and want to give something in return.

"For me, it's a personal thing," she said. "I do this for myself and my children. I'm not from (Chicago). I don't have family here. I want my children to start to feel like they can give to other people and be there for them."

Bowman praises Hardy's contribution to the program.

"She has a very nice way with the clients," she said. "She is very kind to them and pays attention to what they say. We all need that. She is also pretty organized. She calls ahead of time, and if we need something for the program, she gets it."

The program is beneficial for the children and the clients, said Bowman. "It gives our clients a chance to interact with kids and gives kids a chance to interact with our clients," she said. "Sometimes children are frightened of older adults. They see a scary person with gray hair. Here they see older people want to play and want a hug."

As for the clients, "they have so much love to give," she said. "They like to hold and touch. People sometimes forget that about them. This keeps them from being isolated in that way."

The center, 6141 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, is an affiliate of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. It was founded 11 years ago to provide day care for adults with varying degrees of Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. It is open from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and serves about 60 clients a day. (Not all clients attend every day.)

In addition to the mothers who bring their children, the center has several other regular volunteers. They perform such tasks as helping clients with craft and gardening projects, preparing food and accompanying clients on field trips.

"It's nice that the community welcomes us," said Bowman. "It's nice for the clients to see different faces. When a volunteer comes in, they know this is another person who cares and someone else they can share themselves with."

"We have paid staff to provide care for clients here, but the volunteers enrich and expand our program in ways that have real meaning to people," said Jane Stansell, the center's program director.

Hardy was born and grew up in Pittsburgh. She graduated in 1980 from the former Sacred Heart High School there, which has since merged with Oakland Catholic High School. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary and special education from the University of Dayton, Ohio, in 1984. After teaching 6th grade for two years in Pittsburgh, she moved to Chicago to join her former college roommates. She then held jobs as a teacher at a pediatric hospital, a teacher and case manager at an alternative high school and a teacher of children with learning disabilities for the Chicago Public Schools. She got her master's degree in special education from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago in 1991.

In 1989 she attended a friend's wedding, where she met Jim Hardy. They married two years later. In 1994 Susanne Hardy stopped working to become a full-time mother. The family moved to Sauganash from Lincoln Park six years ago.

Hardy participated in the center program during its first year and agreed to take the helm for the second. She also coordinates a parish-sponsored mother-and-child play group, which helps her find other participants.

"I get so much out of it," she said. "It's a nice touch of humanity. These people and families struggle with this (disease). If (it) were my family member, I'd want someone to visit."

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For more information on the Alzheimer's Family Care Center call 773-202-4130.